Halloween Horror Nights: Reflections of Fear
"She waits for you behind the mirror. She aches to hear you whisper her name. And before you know it, her cold breath is on your face and her icy hands reach out to pull you into her world." "Chanting her name lures you through the mirror. A mesmerizing, swirling portal guides you through each world. You explore – nervous of what you might find, unsure of where Mary is taking you. Your own heartbeat quickens, but you can’t seem to draw yourself away from the spinning vortex. Did something just blink at you?" Halloween Horror Nights: Reflections of Fear '''was the 18th annual Halloween Horror Nights event at the Universal Orlando Resort. Held for 23 nights from September 26 to November 1, 2008, it included eight haunted mazes and six scarezones, and was the largest Halloween Horror Nights up to that point. Universal's creative team introduced the event and its icon Bloody Mary on the Halloween Horror Nights website in July, and expanded its backstory up to and during the run of the event. With Bloody Mary as icon, fears, fairy tales, and urban legends formed the overall arching theme of the event. With a press release on August 28, Universal revealed the names and descriptions of the mazes. Visible construction could be seen starting in August, and major scarezone construction began in early September. Although there was no elaborate opening show featuring Bloody Mary (unless you attended the media event), she made a number of appearances throughout the event. The Event The story started with an individual known as Mary Agana. Opening a facility which she would perform experiments in fear, this would later spiral into a series of events in which she became a ruler of evil legends, Bloody Mary. The theme of the event itself is that guests would step into "The Mirror" and enter a world that partaked to the twisted, disturbing yet artistic visions of the violent Bloody Mary. With the exceptions of the shows, everything in the event was either tied into the Legend of Bloody Mary, or took place in a realm of the Mirror (Fears, Tales, Urban Legends, Nightmares, and Myths). Attractions Every one of this year's haunted housed and scarezones is linked to Bloody Mary and her patients. Bloody Mary makes a brief appearance in every house, like an easter egg. Haunted Houses * Reflections of Fear (Jaws Queue) - Bloody Mary's own haunted house, where guests were transported into 1958 and uncovered the gruesome scenes of the Doctor's facility. * Scary Tales: Once Upon a Nightmare (Parade Warehouse) - The third of the "Scary Tales" houses (the other two being Scary Tales in 2001 and Scary Tales II in 2002), this house invites guests to a wicked fairy-tale world ruled by the Evil Queen. Linked to Patient #5: Diane Bennett * Creatures! (Soundstage 22) - Guests travel through the Butchered Buck Roadhouse as comic book creatures attack its backwoods inhabitants.Linked to Patient #4: John Deedle * Interstellar Terror (Soundstage 20) - Guests board the NSO Columbus 1492, a ghostly spaceship that had disappeared for several years and has now returned to the orbit of Earth's moon with a mysterious artifact on-board. Linked to Patient #2: Lt. Von Stebler * Dead Exposure (Sprung Tent 2) - Guests witness an invasion of zombies seen through the viewpoint of a celebrity photographer.Linked to Patient #3: Charlie MacPherson * Doomsday (Disaster! Queue) - Based on Universal's film Doomsday, guests must survive a post-apocalyptic Scotland ravaged by a deadly virus. Linked to Patient #6: Thorton M. Kesterson * The Hallow (Sprung Tent 1) - Guests travel to an ancient ceremonial ruin haunted by the servants of Samhain, the Lord of the Underworld, to experience the traditions of Halloweens past. * Body Collectors: Collections of the Past (Soundstage 20) - A follow-up to the 2005 Body Collectors house, it invites guests to Victorian London, where the Collectors are using Jack the Ripper as a cover-up for their ghastly business. Scarezones * Dark Reflections (Front Lot) is where guests enter the bloody world of The Mirror and approach Mary's Mirror Minions. * Asylum in Wonderland (Hollywood Boulevard) permits guests to "enter the Looking Glass", where Bloody Mary's Wonderland awaits. * Fractured Tales (Woody Woodpecker's Kidzone) combines Halloween legends and fairy tales into an evil reality. * The Path of the Wicked (Plaza of the Stars) is an evil version of the Land of OZ, where the wicked witch reigns and Dorothy has been killed. * The Skoolhouse (Mel's Drive-In) takes place in Mr. Renshaw's class where Bloody Mary possessed everyone in the Skool and turned the formerly quaint teaching grounds into Mary's Murder 101. * American Gothic (Shrek Alley) is a twist on strange killings and American folklore legends from the past, with the evil Lizzie Borden as guests' "tour guide". * Streets of Blood (New York) is where The Collectors await victims in the streets of Victorian London, using Jack the Ripper as their scapegoat. In addition to this, Bloody Mary also provides three additional (unofficial horror scapes: Doomsday: The Infected (Doomsday Exit)- The Chainsaw Drill Team Scarezone for 2008 was linked to the House. These brothers always stick together. In good times and bad, the Grimm Brothers, lead by the oldest, Aesop, have always seemed to find a way to smile. Usually it involves disemboweling an unsuspecting victim with a chainsaw, but hey, we all have our quirks… The Harvest (Central Park)- Light your way through Central Park with over 500 Jack-O-Lanterns. Zombies! (World Expo)- Bloodthirsty Zombies lurk through the streets, hungry for their next victims. Shows * The Rocky Horror Picture Show Tribute (Beetlejuice Stage) - Mad scientist Dr. Frank-N-Furter, Rocky Horror and other famous Rocky Horror Picture Show characters return, bringing the musical mayhem of the classic horror spoof to life on-screen and on-stage with live performers singing and dancing in outrageous costumes. The tribute will be interactive with audience participation and on-stage guest involvement. * Brian Brushwood (Animal Actor's Stage) - Based on his popularity as a part of last year’s Freak Show, Brian Brushwood returns, but this time, with his own show. Full of the most intense, riveting and disturbing feats you’ve ever seen performed live, this year, Brian will take his performance to a whole new level, presenting some of his signature acts in his own show. * Bill & Ted's Excellent Halloween Adventure (Fear Factor Stage) - Bill S. Preston Esq. and Ted Theodore Logan return with an all-new, especially excellent Halloween adventure featuring a who’s who of notorious celebrity guest stars. Rides * '''Revenge of the Mummy: The Ride is an indoor roller coaster inspired by The Mummy and its sequels. * The Simpsons Ride is a motion simulator ride which takes you through the world of Krustyland with The Simpsons characters. * Disaster!: A Major Motion Picture Ride...Starring You! puts you in the middle of a new Disaster movie made by fictional company Disaster Studios. * Men in Black: Alien Attack is an interactive dark ride adventure where you will join the ranks of the Men in Black to save New York City from a recent alien invasion. * Jaws puts you aboard Captain Jake's Amity Boat Tours, where you'll journey around the island of Amity, hoping to avoid the menace known as JAWS. Speculation (hhnvualt.com) "So did anyone else besides me when you heard the radio ad imagin the same thing i did when he said "join ur friends at burger king blah blah blah" For some reason what came to mind was some kids hanging out with mary eating a wopper and giving her a high five. I donno that part felt too happy to me." Pictures Bloody Mary Rof.jpg HHN RoF Shop.jpg Halloween Horror Nights 18 CityWalk banner.jpg HHN18 Ticket ad2.jpg HHN18 Ticket ad.jpg HHN18 Florida Project Ad.jpg HHN18 Florida Project Ad 2, version 2.jpg HHN18 Florida Project Ad 3, version 2.jpg HHN18 Guide map version 2.jpg Universal Studios Guide Map from October 2008 version 2.jpg Bloody Mary Crack Mirror.png| Photo copyrighted by "Reaper". Halloween Horror Nights 18 website timeline.jpg Halloween Horror Nights: Reflections of Fear Merchandise and Collectables HHN 18 House Shirt Front.JPG| The front of the house shirt. HHN 18 House Shirt Back.JPG| The back of the house shirt. HHN 18 White Event Guide.JPG| The cover of one of the Event Guides for the event. Walmart Security Sign.jpg| A picture of a Walmart Security Sign advertisement for Halloween Horror Nights: Reflections of Fear. Photo is from Horror Nights Collector.com. HHN RoF Cup.jpg| A picture of a cup that they sold at the event. HHN 18 Bloody Mary Stand.jpg HHN 18 Discount.jpg HHN18 Flyer.jpg Halloween Horror Nights Website Pulls Guests into the World of Bloody Mary, Long Before They’ll Meet Her in Person Orlando, FL (September 9, 2008) This is the Halloween Horror Nights 18 website and it’s unlike anything Universal Orlando has done before. Universal set out to redefine Halloween Horror Nights this year, and needed a website capable of communicating the new scope and level of detail for the event. Reflections of Fear, an application on the website, offers a multisensory, interactive experience through this year’s event. For the first time ever, users can sit at their computers and navigate through what they’ll experience at Halloween Horror Nights 18. “The website heightens the anticipation of coming to Halloween Horror Nights 18 by delivering pieces and parts of the event to the consumer at home,” said T.J. Mannarino, director of entertainment for Universal Orlando. “What people are seeing online, they will experience at this year’s event.” The application features over 60 hand drawings and about 200 individual files that create an illusion similar to a flip book. The files come together to simulate movement through each world of Urban Legends, Fears, Myths, Tales and Nightmares. The audio behind the imagery exists on three different levels: the general background music, atmospherics (i.e., glass shattering, thunder, horses whinnying, etc.) and sound bites (i.e., Bloody Mary, a spaceship alert, classroom chatter, etc.). Consumers can navigate through the Reflections of Fear application, purchase tickets to the event, learn more about Halloween Horror Nights 18 and view a sneak peek of this year’s television commercial at http://www.halloweenhorrornights.com/orlando BLOODY MARY REIGNS OVER UNIVERSAL’S HALLOWEEN HORROR NIGHTS 18 Universal Studios Florida Transforms into Bloody Mary’s World for 23 Horror-Filled Nights Orlando, FL (September 26, 2008) – Bloody Mary, the urban legend of so many childhood nightmares, is real – and she reigns over Universal Orlando’s Halloween Horror Nights 18. This year’s event is bigger in scale, scope and scares than anything Universal has ever done. There are eight all-new haunted houses, each with a story never before explored by Universal’s fear experts. The street program is larger and more elaborate than ever before; scarezones are everywhere and the environments are so detailed and themed, they are like haunted houses without walls. And, there are more originally developed characters than ever before. They roam Halloween Horror Nights 18 by the hundreds, each of them meticulously envisioned and brought to life by Universal just for this year’s guests. This year’s event brings urban legends, nightmares, tales, myths and fables to life. Some of the themes for Halloween Horror Nights 18 include: Scary Tales – Once Upon a Nightmare; Dead Exposure; American Gothic; Asylum in Wonderland; Interstellar Terror; and The Path of the Wicked. And, back by popular demand are three live shows: Bill and Ted’s Excellent Halloween Adventure; The Rocky Horror Picture Show: A Tribute; and Brian Brushwood, who appeared in last year’s Freak Show. Halloween Horror Nights 18 runs from September 26-27 through October 2-5, 9-12, 16-19, 22-26 and October 29-November 1. Advance tickets and vacation packages are on sale now. * Category:Halloween Horror Nights Orlando events Category:Halloween Horror Nights Orlando